Water signage a precaution

Page Content

​Monday 19 December 2016

Ashburton
District Council is confirming the safety of Lake Hood’s recreational water
following results from ongoing water tests.

Council
Environmental Monitoring Manager Rick Catchpowle says precautionary signage was
erected at Lake Hood on the afternoon of Friday 16 December after a high
reading for E. coli was found in a routine water test. A second test today has
revealed the lake’s water is safe for people to swim in.

“Council
and Environment Canterbury routinely test water samples from all over the
district to ensure it is safe. On Friday afternoon, we were made aware that a
sample from Lake Hood had exceeded E. coli standards and as a precaution, we
installed signage at the site warning people not to swim there until follow up
tests could confirm the findings.”

“Today’s
test reveals the E. coli levels are below trigger values, and we have begun
removing the precautionary signage. The test did reflect the presence of E.
coli, but within acceptable levels. Vigorous monitoring will continue to ensure
the lake remains safe for people to swim in.”

Mr
Catchpowle adds the cause of the high readings could be from a number of
sources.

“The
lake’s water is creek, river and spring fed, which means the high readings
could be from farm stock, birds or any number of sources. While we don’t yet
know the cause, we can confirm people are safe to get back into the lake, which
is good timing for the holidays.”

Council
and Environment Canterbury collect water samples from all over the district and
have these samples tested in a laboratory recognised by the Ministry of Health.